COLLEGE PARK — About 15 minutes before Saturday’s tip-off against Northwestern, Maryland held its senior day festivities. Julian Reese went last. He emerged from the tunnel arm-in-arm with his mom, Angel Webb, met by a chorus singing, “Juuuuu.” Then he lifted his jersey No. 10, which was tucked in a glass frame, and swirled it around to a strong ovation from the home crowd.

It was the final time Reese would play at the Xfinity Center, capping his last regular season of an uncommon path in college basketball: Playing all four years at the same school despite a coaching turnover and program restructuring.

Coach Kevin Willard said that this week would be about Reese, and the big man from Baltimore delivered. He had his fingerprints all over the 74-61 win over Northwestern, finishing with his 14th double-double of the year behind 19 points and 11 rebounds.

“I think he really embraced his last time being here,” Willard said.

Reese received quite an ovation from the sellout crowd checking out of the game for the final 23.2 seconds.

Short-spoken as always, Reese said he felt “grateful” in the moment and pleasantly surprised to see his own jersey sprinkled throughout the crowd. Now heading into his final college postseason, Reese is up to 1,420 career points and 977 rebounds, which keeps him on pace to the be the second Terp to eclipse 1,000 career rebounds.

Northwestern coach Chris Collins applauded Reese’s development from a freshman who “you could get under his skin a little bit” to a senior with “poise” and “command.” Reese’s physicality took center stage Saturday, a game that Willard acknowledged that Maryland would have “struggled to win” without.

The Terps technically locked up a top-four seed in the Big Ten by halftime of Saturday’s game. No. 12 Wisconsin’s loss to Penn State meant that, even if Maryland lost, it would have finished as low as No. 4. But a win helped the Terps’ case, and if No. 17 Michigan loses to No. 8 Michigan State on Sunday, they could get up to as high as the second seed.

This all matters only in that it determines matchups for the Big Ten Tournament next week in Indianapolis. All four top teams are granted a double-bye to the quarterfinals, which begin Friday.

The reason the Terps have a shot to make some noise in the conference tournament and perhaps into the NCAA Tournament? The “Crab Five” — a nickname bestowed upon the Terps starters, born on social media for one of the most efficient starting groups in college basketball.

Saturday was more of the same, with six points off the bench and the “Crab Five” scoring a combined 68 points.

Selton Miguel’s three 3-pointers provided a much-needed spark early in the second half. He finished with 11 points and five boards. Derik Queen, the savvy freshman and projected NBA first-round draft pick contributed 10 and 10. Terps game manager Ja’Kobi Gillespie buried three triples on his way to 17 points. Rodney Rice chipped in 11.

But this one was closer than it should have been because of an unfavorable turnover battle. The Terps coughed it up 18 times, a season high, and Northwestern turned that into 16 points.

Northwestern was paced by Nick Martinelli’s 28 points and seven rebounds. It’s worth noting this isn’t the same Northwestern team that bested Maryland in overtime in January. The Wildcats have since lost starting backcourt pair Brooks Barnhizer and Jalen Leach to season-ending injuries.

“That kid is a warrior,” Willard said. “Without Nick Martinelli, that team wouldn’t win a game. … That kid has willed that program to seven wins, which is ridiculous considering how many injuries they’ve had.”

The rest of the group didn’t have enough to go 40 minutes with a surging Maryland on the road. Collins agreed with the sentiment, saying “our margin for error is slim.” Rice helped tip the scale.

With just over eight minutes to go, the ball squirted into the backcourt in a ricochet off a foot. Collins was convinced it was a violation. He jumped up and down pleading his case to the official. It was close, but the non-call favored the Terps. Rice spun off a screen from Jordan Geronimo, his defender slipped and touched down on the hardwood, and Rice buried the open triple.

Any lost juice returned all at once, pushing Maryland’s lead to 53-46 lead — one they would not surrender.

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